Eyes of a child

The Christmas season has been so much more fun this year as Emily is just beginning to get the idea that something special is going on. It's interesting to watch the little wheels in her head as she tries to figure out why I'm bringing a tree into the house, baking lots of cookies, passing out little boxes to friends and neighbors, and asking her if she wants to sit on some old guy's lap at the mall so a strange lady can take her picture. It didn't take her long to figure out that the wrapped things under the tree have good things for her in them -- of course, she still doesn't understand that we don't get to open them every day. She seems very puzzled by the idea of Santa, though. (Who wouldn't be, I realize.) She liked the idea of saying "hello" to him at the mall but was terrified to sit in his lap. When I mentioned that he was coming to our HOUSE to bring presents, I could just see her trying to weigh Santa's coming to her house (bad) against presents (good). Adding the fact that she'd be asleep during said present-drop didn't seem to help matters. Somehow, I think come next Thursday she'll have figured it out.